The Kingdom of Bhutan, known to its inhabitants as Druk Yul (Land of the Thunder Dragon), is imagined by many outsiders to be a land frozen in a highly traditional past. This is not true – a thoughtful programme of modernisation began here 40 years ago. However, Bhutan’s culture is underpinned by an ancient Buddhist mythology, emblemised by the ethereal dzongs (fort-monasteries) of the Bumthang region. Combined with Bhutan’s extraordinary geography, it is this that brings visitors to a standstill while they are trekking between Himalayan peaks in the north, delving into deep central valleys or roaming the rolling southern hills.
Bhutan is very much a land of juxtapositions--a place of old and new. Many times I do indeed feel like I'm in a country stuck in another time. The rice paddies hugging the fields around the capital building, the peaceful chortens and monasteries sitting high atop the hills and the common practice of gso-ba rig-pa (traditional medicine here in Bhutan). Other times you feel Bhutan's rapid ascent into modernity, pounding ever faster forward like the loud thumping of the bass screaming Lady Gaga in one of Thimphu's surprisingly lively night clubs.
Tomorrow, myself, two of my MPA/ID classmates and a friends head from Thimphu over to Bumthang for the annual Kurji Teschu (festival) celebrating the spiritual leader who brought Buddhism to Bhutan, Guru Rinpoche.
Bumthang, they say, is one of Bhutan's most beautiful districts. It's about 66 miles as the crow flies, shorter than the distance from New York to Philadelphia. Driving straight there, through valleys and mountain passes, it'll take us about 9-hours--assuming no landslides or roadblocks. To break the trip up we'll stop in Wangdue and then I've got a day of field work in Trongsa.
Blogging has been light lately, but not for lack of ideas, just lack of time. It's crazy how quickly my short stay here is going.
